Project Daedalus
by ronnambi
Summary: After dying in the 21st century, to wake up in the 22nd century, to nearly die again and then being put into a LOKI mech, should have been the most problematic situation you could find yourself in, right? Well, while you're on an errand for a deity, it's the least of your worries. And the errand? Stopping the Reapers.
1. Chapter 1

_**Project: Daedalus**_

 _ **Beginnings**_

My last memory was choking on my blood, as my lungs collapsed on me from the steering wheel of my F-150 jammed into my chest. The 18 wheeler in front of me that had fishtailed on some ice had slammed the front of my truck, knocking me off the mountain highway. A boulder, like a dark symbol of defiance amongst the snow and ice, put paid to any forward momentum I had gained.

I could hear the emergency sirens coming from a distance, but knew it was too late for me.

The blackness overtook me.

-Δ-

I woke up to a blank whiteness. I looked down to see my body as a formless, white cloud.

"Ah I see you are here. And right on time too!" came a cheerful voice, just as I was going to panic. Far _too_ cheerful for the situation.

I look up to see a man, dressed up in a black suit, pants and white shirt. And he was _beautiful_. Not an adjective I would use to describe a man, but appropriate in this case. Plus, the feathered wings on his back gave away the fact that whatever he was, he was most certainly not a man. He looked like an undertaker. Appropriate for the situation.

I try to ask him where I am and who he was but couldn't speak. Actually, I couldn't move, like an insect in amber.

"Ah, yes. You must have a lot of questions. And I unfortunately don't have time to answer all your questions, what with the number of souls being harvested by those thrice-be-damned Reapers. The surly buggers have just wiped out the last Prothean stronghold and now will go about wiping out all traces of their existence. But where are my manners? My name is Thanatos, and I've come to guide you to your next life. Now, the thing is that, I have a small favour to ask you and souls like yours. You see, I'm trying to build a force to take out those abominations and I really _need_ your help" he said, giving me the puppy-dog eyes. My mind was reeling. Protheans? Reapers? _Mass-_ bloody - _Effect_?! What was going on?

"Oh goody, I knew you would help! Now, the thing is that the rules prevent you from remembering all the details of your previous life. It makes the transfer easier. I'm going to bend the rules for you a little by allowing you to remember events only after a particularly traumatic event happens to you. The shock should help you remember everything! Good? Off you pop!" Thanatos said, without allowing me any sort of input.

-Δ-

I jerk awake, coughing blood. My memories of two lives rush into my head, causing me to nearly have an aneurysm. I hear guttural roars and look to see a _bloody Krogan_ rushing up to me, a shotgun with a wicked bayonet attached being raised above its head. I drag myself upright against a wall, raise a shaking, bloody hand with a pistol in it and open fire, shooting it in the head. Its shields broke by the fifth shot, and by the fifteenth shot it fell over in front of me, dead, its shotgun clattering a few feet away from me. I heard further roars as I see Turians, Asari, Batarians, humans and Salarians rushing over to where I was.

 _Protect the colony!_ a voice shouts in my head, forcing me to I drag myself over the blasted ground, the tarmac hot from repeated explosions and broken, the jagged pieces cutting into my hands. Memories of a shore leave as a recently graduated N3, the peace of the last two days shattered by the orbital bombardment of the space port, my running to the nearest police station. All of this rushes into my head as I reach the shotgun, and flip it over. Shouldering it I open fire. The recoil flings me back to where I was, shattering my shoulder, while taking out the lead elements of the invaders.

 _M-300 Claymore_ the same mental voice helpfully supplied to me, as I regain my grip on the shotgun. Using my off-hand, I shoulder it with difficulty, my other arm being useless. I open fire, ignoring the pain I was experiencing. I put round after round downrange, shooting the slaver bastards.

As the shotgun overheated, I heard the throb of powerful aero-engines overhead. _A-61 Mantis_ the voice again helpfully explained, when the chain-gun spooled up and opened fire on all the slavers. The sound of explosions were heard all around. A sudden light show signalled the demise of some airborne asset.

I let myself fall back and see the flights of Mantis gunships go overhead, Kodiaks coming in to land.

"This is the _SSV Agnicourt_. The Siege of Elysium is broken. All hostile elements are disengaging" I hear a voice say over the omnitool's comm.

"We got a live one here!" yelled a voice. A figure in a black N7 armour came into view, their omni flashing as it scanned me.

"Oh shit, we need a medic here NOW!" the figure yelled as he took his helmet off. I focused on his face, his complexion milk-chocolate brown with kind eyes set in a patrician face, his hair cut short.

"Easy son, easy. Just breathe. You're gonna be fine" he said as he used his omnitool to dispense medigel on my injuries. I heard the dull drum roll of armoured boots as they ran up to where I was lying.

"Shit boss. According to local garrison tac-net, this sonavabitch held off the entire force on his own" another figure, dressed in Alliance blue armour reported. Looking at the mark on his armour, I'd say petty officer.

"Corporal...Corporal Sharma. I need you to keep looking at me okay. Look at me..."said the medic as he packed me with medigel, gauze and painkillers. I felt my body float away from me, drifting away.

-Δ-

I felt myself...awaken.

 **CEREBRAL IMPLANT ONLINE...**

 **OCULAR IMPLANT ONLINE...**

My vision was filled with a white walled room, I was on some kind of raised bed, with all kinds of machines around me. A sense of haziness clothed my mind.

"Subject-71? Subject-71, can you hear me?" an accented voice said as a person stood in front of me. He was a middle aged man, fair-skinned, with a bald head and a brown beard, lightly flecked with grey. He was wearing a futuristic lab coat.

" _ **I...YES. I CAN HEAR...WAIT, WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VOICE?"**_ I asked, my voice panicking. At this the doctor reached out to me, in a calming gesture.

"Yes, the prosthesis can't mimic human voices..." is as far as he goes as I look down to see a thin, _metallic_ body that was familiar. And I _**ROAR**_.

I pull against the ties, trying to free myself. Unfortunately my body is not strong enough to free itself. A cloud of haziness drifts over me as I slowly stop struggling.

A door slid open to my right. As I felt my grip on reality slip, four people were standing in front of me.

"Ah, Doctor Renner. And how goes Project Daedalus?" said Jack Harper, dressed in his signature 'business casual', the top two buttons undone, his blue cybernetic eyes piercing. Standing at his shoulders are Kai Leng and Maya Brooks.

"Unfortunately, only Subject 71 was in any way fit to be used. The others weren't viable or went into shock on learning their new status" Doctor Renner replied. Harper gestured to me and Renner immediately began fiddling on his omnitool. I felt the grogginess recede, as Harper crouched in front of me.

"My name is The Illusive Man. I am the leader of Cerberus, a pro-human interest group, Corporal Sharma. You're currently inside a LOKI mech as prosthetic, as your body was completely unsalvageable. Only your brain made it through intact. As far as the Alliance is considered, you died defending Elysium from a force of slavers. In the commendation for your posthumous Star of Terra, it was mentioned that you were awarded for having gone 'above and beyond the call of duty' and for 'having executed your duties in the finest traditions of the Alliance'. Pretty words, a _cold_ comfort for those who were left behind, like your wife Susan. And little Jolene, who will grow up never knowing her father" he said, his voice the right mixture of sadness and anger, as if he were sharing something personal. But unbidden, the images of my wife, heavily pregnant when I had just come from N2 training sprang into my mind. We had been married only for two years, childhood sweethearts. I had proposed to her after I got my invite to the Villa, and got married just after completing my N1 commendation.

I mentally shake my head, not allowing to translate into commands for my new body. The Illusive Man is a master spy and spymaster. He was the best in the business of collecting, analysing and acting on intelligence, subverting assets in enemy territory. That's how he had been able to survive the scrutiny of four major galactic powers _and_ the Shadow Broker. And as much it hurt a part of me, that woman wasn't my wife. She was the wife of the poor sod whose body I've taken over.

I decide to reply.

" _ **AND WHAT DO YOU, AND BY EXTENSION CERBERUS WANT FROM ME?"**_ I asked, knowing what he was going to say next.

"To prevent such things from happening again. With your assistance, we would be able to take out these threats from becoming reality" he replied. I mull over it.

" _ **I HAVE A FEW CONDITIONS"**_ I state firmly.

"Name it" Harper replied. Smug bastard knew he held all the cards.

" _ **FIRSTLY, I KNOW YOUR REPUTATION AND YOUR ORGANISATION'S. I WILL NOT BE PART OF ANY ACTIVITY WHICH WILL BE AGAINST THE SYSTEM'S ALLIANCE OR HAMPER'S ITS STANDING IN THE GALAXY"**_ __No need to scare the chickadees by letting them know what I am planning for them. Let them continue to think that I am just a mindless Marine grunt.

"Done" Harper replied. Ohhohoho, sunny boy, you're going to regret that one soon.

" _ **SECONDLY, NO CONTROL CHIPS"**_ I say, continuing on the path. My mind needed to be my own, only way I could go ahead with my plans. Harper nodded in reply. Now, my final one, and the one I was geeking out the most about.

" _ **LASTLY...WELL, I HAVE A FEW UPGRADE IDEAS FOR MY NEW BODY. I HOPE YOUR BUDGET WILL ALLOW FOR IT"**_ I said, my voice a little wry, to which Harper responds with an amused snort.

"I'm sure we'll manage just fine Corporal" he said, his voice equally wry.

" _ **WELL THEN, YOU HAVE A SOLDIER"**_ I said, to which Harper replied.

"Welcome to Cerberus"

-Δ-

Miranda Lawson, an up-and-coming Operative in Cerberus, made her way through Cronos Station, Cerberus's HQ. She wondered what the summons was about as she ran through the various programs and projects she was in charge of, and the latest Alliance Intelligence chatter, on how the Alliance Navy, through a systematic campaign of anti-piracy operations, had managed to narrow down the list of candidates of where the Skyllian Blitz was staged from to Torfan.

She quickly cleared security to enter the inner sanctum.

"Ah, Miranda. I have a new mission for you. It is time-sensitive and would require you to handle with extreme care" The Illusive Man said to her as he held out a datapad for her to peruse. She opened it, her curiosity piqued. Her eyes widened as she read it.

"Your mission is simple, act as the handler of our latest agent, Agent Fenris. He will be deployed onto Torfan two hours before the actual raid by the Alliance on the moon. His mission is to locate and disable their anit-air defences and steal as much intelligence as he can before Alliance forces jump in system. You will operate out of the stealth freighter _CSV Ontario_. Any questions?" he asked her, to which she replied.

"Why the hell am I taking a mech?" TIM laughed in indulgent amusement as he shook his head.

"Ah Miranda, Miranda. The mech is a prosthesis for the Lion of Elysium. And he suggested... _improvements_ "

" _Improvements?_ Artificial muscles, Arm mounted Revenants, with underbarrel Claymores, shoulder mounted Cain launcher and minituarised GARDIAN lasers. Star-fighter grade armour, with anti-tank shielding. All powered by an _eezo_ core? Why in all that is good and kind, that we created this walking _WMD?!_ " she asked, her voice raising in octaves as she processed all that she read on Project Daedalus and on Agent Fenris.

Inhuman reaction time, proficiency in conventional and unconventional weapons and warfare, marksman and electronic warfare capabilities.

"Will there be any problems, Miranda" TIM asked, to which she shook her head and turned around on being dismissed, making her way to the shuttle bay.

-Δ-

NEXT CHAPTER - TORFAN


	2. Chapter 2

_**Project: Daedalus**_

 ** _2._** ** _Torfan_**

I stood in the hangar bay of the _CSV Intrepid_ , a Cerberus Q-ship designed to look like a medium-cargo hauler. In a false hold lay the Cerberus marine barracks, housing the 50 marines who were the ship's security detail and the flight crews of the dropships, an armoury for the same, a mini fabricator to build any necessary parts and a hangar, carrying a UT-47 Kodiak and an A-61 Mantis. The _Intrepid_ had a GARDIAN laser array along its body to provide close range protection, concealed in false maintenance hatches and a spinal MAC along the keel of the ship to get it out of a fight.

I was waiting for my handler to make their presence known. The fact that other than me, the only other people in the hangar were the Kodiak crew meant that the hangar was feeling slightly more cavernous.

I was running my 50th diagnostic on all my weapon systems when I heard the distinctive _click-clack_ of heels. A _very_ distinctive pair of heels.

I turn around to be confronted by the brunette vision of perfection that is Miranda Lawson in her signature cat suit, which really left barely anything to the imagination. _She's_ my handler? Bloody hell!

 ** _"I BELIEVE YOU'RE MY HANDLER?"_** I query, though my question was perfunctory at best. I quietly run a discreet hack on her omnitool. Let's just say I don't trust a soul here, especially Miranda Lawson as she was currently. She was a dyed-in-wool Cerberus loyalist. I know that deep down, under all the ice, under all the emotional armour there was a kind, determined and courageous woman, who would sacrifice herself in a heartbeat for everyone else's benefit. But, that would take a long time and a lot of work on my part to get out. And it may not work even then.

 _Burning Cerberus to the ground and re-purposing it, along with taking out Henry Lawson may help_ I think to myself as she walks upto me and stands, her left hip cocked, her arms crossed under her breasts. I quickly analysed her posture as one calculated to unsettle and distract me, as her grey-blue eyes calculated me. I kept my posture neutral, my visor focused on her face. A flash of...approval? Satisfaction? Something else? flashed across her face as she relaxed her posture into something more friendly.

"I am. My name is Miranda Lawson, and my call sign for the mission is Sif. I trust you know the mission objectives?" she asked me in a voice of melted chocolate. Okay, a voice that can arouse? I definitely have seen everything.

 ** _"LOCATE AND ELIMINATE AA ASSETS ON SURFACE, GRAB INTEL. MIND IF I MAKE A SUGGESSTION?"_** I say. She shot me a curious look.

"And what would that be?" she asked. I project a hologram of the target area from my right hand.

 ** _"INSTEAD OF HAVING THE KODIAK SET DOWN HERE,"_** I indicate the landing zone, twenty klicks away from the targets, forcing me to tab across the open ground ** _"WHY NOT SEND ME IN VIA ORBITAL DROP? I HAVE AN EEZO CORE, WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED TO NULLIFY MY WEIGHT BEFORE IMPACT"_** I then project a theoretical path, zooming out to show Torfan in its entirety, where the Kodiak, staying out of range of the guns and patrol ships in the air space by hiding in the moon's shadow, running silent, drops me off. I would then make my way down, while the Kodiak could slingshot around back to the _Intrepid_. I then select my falling digital self, zooming in, showing it being surrounded by a mass effect field **_"I CAN THEN BE DROPPED RIGHT INTO THE TARGET AREA, ALLOWING ME TO KEEP FRIENDLY EXPOSURE TO A MINIMUM. I CAN THEN OVERRIDE ANY CONTROL THEY MAY HAVE ON THEIR GUNS, TARGET THEIR IN-ORBIT SHIPS. ONCE THEY'RE DOWN, HAVE THE GUNS ENGAGE EACH OTHER, KILL EACH OTHER. USE THE CONFUSION TO LOCATE THEIR COMMAND CENTRE, DISABLE THE SLAVE COLLARS, ELIMINATE THEIR LEADERSHIP. THE ALLIANCE CAN THEN PERFORM MOP UP"_** I said, depicting my plan on the map gleaned from intel.

She looked at me, wide-eyed. She then shook her head slowly. Her vitals were a little...off.

"You're insane, you know that?" she said, her voice half-admiring, half-disbelieving. She then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Well if you're going to do something completely insane..." she said. She then headed out of the hangar and went to the armoury. I exchange a look with the crew of the Kodiak, who have a look of confusion on their faces.

"Away team standby. Dropping out of FTL in five minutes" I make my way to the Kodiak when the doors _whoosh_ open to admit Lawson in. She's now dressed in a black combat-hard suit, her hair done up in a bun, a helmet in her hands. On her back was a Gorgon assault rifle, a Harpy pistol on her waist and a Hydra shotgun along the small of her back.

"Well, if you're going to do all that, I had better come along to keep you alive" she said as she got into the shuttle.

 ** _"ERM...YOU DO REALISE THAT I'M THE SEVEN FOOT TALL MURDERBOT HERE, RIGHT? I'M PRETTY SURE I CAN ACHIEVE ALL THE OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES SOLO. THERE'S NO REASON FOR YOU TO RISK YOURSELF"_** I reply, climbing in behind her.

"Yes, but are you capable of running a hack while you're being shot at? And do you have medical training to attend to injured non-combatants? Can you also infiltrate and assassinate their entire top hierarchy?" she challenged, her voice tinny as her face was now masked by her helmet, the orange, non-reflective visor hiding her expression.

I frown (figuratively) at that, as I'm designed to specifically do that (except the combat medic part, something to work on later), when I realise something. Her reaction to my plan, her vitals jumping, the increased heat at specific areas on her body. I grin (figuratively) and switch on our short-range private comms.

 _'You're an adrenaline junkie Sif'_ I accuse her, making sure my amusement was evident in my voice.

She started at my accusation, and then turned to glare at me.

 _'I am not an adrenaline junkie. I am ensuring that Cerberus's investment is kept safe'_ she replied on the same channel, her voice clipped as the Kodiak lifted out of the hangar of the _Intrepid_.

 _'We'll see'_ I challenged her. Her visor turned to glare at me. Under normal circumstances it would have been scary. Now, it's hilarious.

In response I just swipe my right hand index finger under my visor, causing her glare to intensify.

 _"Approaching IP in one mike"_ came the pilot's voice over our radio.

 _"Copy that, we're ready for launch"_ Miranda replied, her voice clipped in her annoyance.

 _"Acknowledged"_ saying that, the side hatch of the shuttle opened to show Torfan in its entirety. We were just within its gravity well to commence our drop.

 _"Drop in three, two, one... GooooooO!"_ she announced. As she said one, I moved forward, scooped her up in a bridal carry, activated my shields and launched us out of the Kodiak, causing her 'Go' to change into a ululation.

I am so going to pay for this later. But _completely_ worth it.

-Δ-

Miranda was going to exit out of the craft in a dignified manner, stepping out of the Kodiak, allowing her to swan dive to Torfan's surface. Her kinetic and biotic barriers would take the brunt of the re-entry heat, as minimal as it would be in Torfan's thin atmosphere.

But then, the thrice- _damnable_ Agent Fenris, after figuring out one of her fetishes, had scooped her up in his arms ( _without permission, damn him!_ ) and launched them both out of the Kodiak.

 _Can you blame a girl for screaming?_ Miranda thought as she clung onto Fenris's armoured form, his kinetic shielding taking on the minimal heat of re-entry, while a wave of pleasure washed over her. An eternity (or thirty seconds according to the mission clock) he flipped them over so that they would land feet first. He then activated his mass effect field, causing her to feel the pleasurable pinpricks from the mass effect oscillations, increasing slowly as he reduced their mass, slowing their acceleration down, until they landed on the surface. Miranda managed to contain her moan of pleasure as the entire situation was straight out of one of her wilder fantasies, one that she had deemed impractical in the extreme.

 _Though it took a seven-foot tall murderbot to give me such an experience_ she thought as she shook her head to clear it of the haze of endorphins, shooting him a glare. Considering he was seven feet tall, made of star fighter armour fitted onto artificial muscles, with a helmet that looked like a Blood Dragon armour, all concealing enough ordinance to stop an invasion in its tracks, a glare wasn't going to faze him. As he wasn't looking at her, the potency of the glare was lost on him.

 _'We're in. No alert sent out. I'm tapped into their comm. Net. We're...um Sif, you ok? You look a little...unsteady"_ his voice was ...concerned. Or as concerned as it could get through a artificial modulator. Then his perceptiveness kicked in again.

 _'Did you...oh you did not, did you? Oh you did! Oh god, you're not an adrenaline junkie! You're adrenaline fetishist! God...is it weird that it's kind of turning me on?'_ he said, his voice changing from amused to mildly disturbed.

 _'Let's move'_ she said curtly, pushing away from him. He let out the mechanical equivalent of a sigh and stopped her from moving ahead with a hand on her shoulder.

 _'Sif, it's OK. I'll keep it a secret. And since you won't take me at my word, I'll tell you something that you can use against me. I find an orgasming woman the sexiest thing to see, and damn arousing'_ he volunteered, which kind of defeated the purpose of blackmail. And it wasn't exactly helping me getting my thoughts back in order.

 _'Just a thought to leave you with'_ he said as he switched his arms for his primary armament, his hands folding into mounts as the tri-barrels of the modified Revenants slotted in place, a Claymore barrel unfolding as an under barrel attachment.

 _'I'm going to hold you to it'_ Miranda commented as she unfolded her Gorgon assault rifle.

-Δ-

 _Ok, that was hot as hell_ I think to myself as I take the lead, my left arm weapons trained in front, the right in ready position as we make our way to the first objective, the AA guns control centre. I keep an...well not exactly an eye on the radar as it was now a sensory organ of mine, but I kept a track of it. And it was warning me of contacts coming ahead... _now_.

I immediately raise my right arm in a halting motion, taking a knee.

 _'What is it?'_ Sif asked me, her voice concerned. I use my link with her to project where the troops were. They were moving in a regular patrol pattern.

 _'Isolating their team frequency'_ I said as I scroll down the entire list of frequencies available. Immediately a white radio antenna symbol appeared over the team. Huh, handy.

 _'Engage? Or avoid?'_ I ask Sif, who replies immediately.

 _'Can you prevent them from sending out an alert?'_ she asked. At my nod, she ordered, _'Take them out'_

 _'Powering up GARDIAN array'_ I say. The GARDIAN as such is a laser cannon, but the shoulder-mounted variant that I had consisted of an octagonal pack of UV-capable diodes. On my request, all of them had miniature motors and lenses, allowing independent targeting. The device popped up from its mount, powering up. I then quickly step out of cover, cause an immediate cascade in communications by blanketing them with white noise, cutting their link with their command net. I use the GARDIAN, target the five troops and hit them in the helmet with a single pulse from the array. They drop like ragdolls. I check my radar for any more contacts, getting a clear signal.

 _'All clear'_ I inform Sif, who nodded immediately.

 _'Good, let's move'_ she ordered. I made my way along the path, highlighted by my hacking into their comm. net and Cerberus Intel, as to where the AA control centre was.

The rust red ground, with its undulating terrain made it difficult to get clear line of sight, something Sif and I use with a great degree of skill, especially when Sif took out a three man patrol in two seconds flat, concealing our movement until we reached the command bunker's entrance. It was set into a rock face, with a massive door, two IFVs guarding the entrance.

 _'Cain the door and charge and barge 'em? I hit the IFVs, you take out the command centre'_ I ask Sif as we hunker down behind cover. She looked at me curiously.

 _'Can you take out the IFVs? The Cain won't charge up fast enough'_ Sif replied, her voice carrying a hint of honestly concerned. I didn't have enough anti-tank options to take them out conventionally. But, I wasn't looking at conventional.

 _'Easy as pie. Wait for my mark'_ I reply as I activate the Cain. Hesitantly nodding, she took position, activating her biotics in preparation of a biotic charge. I block all communications in and out from the command centre and the two IFVs. Slowly the Cain's activation sound reached a fever pitch.

 _'Three. Two. One. Mark'_ I say and launch the projectile, an explosive composite weighing at 20 grams at 0.01c which detonates immediately on impact, generating an approximate yield of 214.8 tons of TNT.

 _'Woah'_ I knew the Cain was powerful. But this was insane. The door just _vapourised_. Even Sif was taken aback by the sheer insanity of the weapon's destructiveness. The shockwave causes the IFV on our right to tip over, while the one on our left was hit with a boulder, causing it to crumple to one side. I hear the exclamations of shock, surprise and rage of the pirates over the comm. net.

 _'Go!'_ I rap out immediately, causing Sif to break out of her stupor and biotically charge across the gap and into the enemy base. I immediately charge up the GARDIAN and blast the totalled IFV in the base as I run up to the second IFV, coring it in the engine block, detonating it. Vaulting over the front of the IFV, I land on top of the gun turret, and open fire onto the thinly armoured section right on top of the turret. The machine guns in my arms shred the armour. I then jump off it and use the cooled Cain that I activate to eliminate it.

 _'Sif, sitrep!'_ I order curtly, as I run into the command centre. I can hear the pirates' trying to outflank Sif.

 _'A little busy here!'_ she snapped over the sound of gunfire. I spooled up the guns as I entered the command centre.

The next five seconds are absolute carnage. With my entry onto the scene, the tide turned decisively in our favour. Machineguns, shotguns, even the GARDIAN was deployed to take out a couple of Blood Pack Krogan who I bisected with it.

 _'Well, that was invigorating'_ I comment dryly as I make my way to the command console of the AA guns. I begin re-calibrating the guns, overriding central control and have them target the pirate fleets IFF.

 _'So glad you approve'_ came the equally dry response on Sif's side as she ran a hack on the various omnitools lying around.

 _'Well, looks like the gig is up. We might want to hustle as we have a reinforced company strength formation on its way to our position. Want to ambush them?'_ I ask her as I hand her an M-100 automatic grenade launcher, and two spare drums from one of the Blood Pack corpses

 _'Why Fenris, are you asking me out on a date?'_ she purred in reply. Ohkaay...I don't know whether to be freaked out or turned on right now.

I think I'll go with turned on. Damn, this woman is something else!

I shake it off as we head out to ambush the incoming force.

-Δ-

 **Staff Lieutenant David Michael Shepard's POV:**

"Green light! Go! Go! Go!" the Kodiak pilot said and David jumped out of the Kodiak, taking point for his section as they charged to their target, the command and control centre. Once they had it under Alliance control, David and his team could take control of the AA batteries that dotted the surface of the moon, Torfan.

"Section on me!" he ordered as they move quickly from cover to cover, waiting for the burst of machine gun fire, the bombs, the mine fields, the mortars. But all was quiet.

 _A little too quiet._

 _"All away teams. Preliminary scans show thermal concentrations in the primary target bunkers. The AA batteries are not tracking us. Be on your guard"_ came the voice of their ONI SIGINT liason, Intelligence Chief Susan Marshal, updating them on the ELINT and SIGINT scans.

David barely acknowledge it with a verbal reply, tapping on his transmit button twice. His squad stacked up against the sides of the door leading into the bunker, when suddenly the door cycled open and a voice spoke in a deep monotone.

"With hopeful trepidation and challenge: Mako"

"Shark" David replied automatically to the all clear signal as he slowly stepped around the corner, his weapon up, and came across a strange sight. An elcor, a turian and a krogan were standing inside the command centre while a human woman and an asari stood a little further back, with a small group of children of several races peeking out from behind the legs of the adults. The woman was the first one to step forward. She was dressed in some kind of onesie, was pale as a ghost and despite being young, her hair had streaks of grey in them. Most telling of all, she had a healing sore around her neck. The kind of sore that came from a slave collar.

Tears were streaming down her face as she walked up to the Alliance spec-ops team cautiously. David signaled his team to continue the sweep of the bunker. She stopped five feet from him and his section NCO.

"They said you would come to save us all" she said. David was a little taken aback at this statement and the obvious breach of OPSEC.

"Who said this?" David asked her gently. The woman just gestures at the screens. David silently watched the video for the ten minutes it lasts and then walked out of the bunker, ordering his team to stand guard and treat any remaining injuries they had. Before leaving, he saw his female teammates playing with the kids.

"Sir, this Cobra-Lead" he said contacting Staff Commander David Anderson, the Commanding Officer of all Special Operations teams hitting Torfan.

-Δ-

NEXT UP - TORFAN: AFTERMATH AND THE BEGINNING OF A PARTNERSHIP.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Project: Daedalus**_

 _ **3.**_ **** ** _Beginning of a Partnership_**

Miranda was conducting an inspection of the _Intrepid_ when she caught a whiff of eggs and the faint sound of music. She had finished putting the final touches to her report on the mission they had conducted on Torfan two days ago and decided she needed to take a break. And ensure that everything was running ship-shape.

Cocking an eyebrow, she made her way to the mess. The door opened with a pneumatic hiss to reveal a good portion of the Marines in the mess, wolfing down on some delicious food, while soft jazz was playing over the intercom. She unconsciously took a strong breath of the food and her mouth began to water as her stomach decided to launch its protest at her mistreatment of it.

 ** _"OPERATIVE LAWSON? COME TO JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST?"_** came the synthesized voice of Agent Fenris as he stood behind the mess's serving counter, dressed in an...apron, with a spatula in one hand and a knife in the other.

Picture this. An eight-foot tall death machine, dressed in a baby blue apron, with a caption of 'KISS THE COOK' in green letters, holding a plastic spatula in one hand and a knife in the other.

Miranda didn't know whether this was amusing or terrifying.

"I heard some music and decided to look into it" she replied. She then noticed that all the Marines were watching her with a touch of fear as she stood there. All of them had stopped eating. A flash of irritation ran through her as she noticed it. She hadn't done anything which would cause them to fear her. If anything she was grateful for them to come down onto Torfan when Fenris and she had established a beachhead. Without them, the mission could well have failed. Especially when Fenris went and modified the parameters of the mission the way he had.

 _'They're waiting for you to say something Sif'_ she heard Fenris advise her on their private-comm. She squared her shoulders and nodded to the Marines.

"Carry on then" she said, and made to leave the mess when one of the Marines, a boy of barely eighteen came up to her and coughed to catch her attention.

"Uh...ma'am. I...that is _we_ were wondering if you had breakfast?" he asked me, his voice timid, his eyes fixed on a point above her head. Miranda admitted that this was probably the cutest and nicest way a man had asked her to have a meal with them. Most men checked her figure out first. This young man had summoned up his courage and asked his overall commander if she had had a meal, looking out for her in a way.

"No, not yet..." she replied, to which he cut her off.

"Then ma'am would you like to join us? " he asked as he gestured to the table. Miranda looked beyond him to see the rest of the Marines grimacing at their youngster's behaviour, when Fenris decided to interfere again.

 _'Say you would be delighted to. And be genuine about it. And for heaven's sake socialise! They're terrified of you because they only know you as a hyper-competent agent who never smiles and doesn't have a word of praise for them'_ he said, his voice a little harsh. That stung Miranda a bit. Pushing her feelings aside, she focused on the Marine in front of her and gave him a warm smile.

"I would be delighted to" she replied to the Marine, who smiled in reply as he gestured to an open spot at the table he and his friends were seated at. Nodding in thanks as she sat down opposite him, a tall shadow crossed over her before a plate of food was deposited in front of her.

 ** _"AN ENGLISH BREAKFAST FOR THE LADY, WITH TEA"_** said Fenris as he stepped away from her.

A two word message came over her private comm.

 _'Good job'_

-Δ-

I felt a measure of pride in Miranda as she began to join in the conversation around her. Now, if only I could get her to break away from Cerberus.

Probably after I kill her father, kill off TIM, take over Cerberus and purge it of all the unethical, xenophobic elements.

In the meantime, I could keep myself entertained by playing jazz, making breakfast for the crew and studying up Material Engineering. Which is only possible when more portions of your brain are freed from worrying about basic bodily functions.

I was just wiping down the counter when Miranda approached me. She held the tea cup in a lazy grip, her plate being sent for recycling.

 _'Some more tea?'_ I asked her, making my way over to the teapot. She nodded and I refilled the cup.

"Thank you for the breakfast. It was delicious" she murmured in her rich voice. It was way more sensual in real life than in the game. But the slight hardness in her eyes gave away...something else.

 _'You're welcome'_ I said in reply. I waited for her to drop her bombshell, as she idly sipped her tea.

"Jasmine, right? I prefer chamomile myself. And the Illusive Man wants to have a debrief in the communications room. Ten minutes" she said as she continued sipping her tea.

 _'Okay'_ I replied, then decided to continue _'and...?'_ Call me a masochist, but I decided to poke this sleeping dragon in the eye. Or dragoness in this case. Female of the species and all that.

She shot a smirk at me, which was one-third humour and two-thirds menace "And next time I catch you hacking into my omnitool, or any of my private terminals, I don't care how valuable you are to the Illusive Man, or what you did on Elysium, I will biotically crush you into a tin can. Clear?" her voice exudes enough menace that I ran a quick scan of the bulkheads just to check for structural damage. Then forwarded the results of the scan to her omni, along with a playlist of songs that would be more to her taste.

On seeing her raised eyebrow, I shrugged and responded _'I don't know or trust you. Yet. But I am not going to be a naive, blind fool who you can lead around by his nose. You earn my trust, and I'll be willing to die for you. But screw me over, and none of your perfect genes would be able to save you'_ on seeing her start at my revelation, I laugh grimly, _'Ah yes, I know enough about you Lawson. Not the full details, but enough to be going on. The fact that you're a bonafide genius in an extremely attractive packaging, with enhanced senses and biotics, with a disproportionate power to weight ratio lends credence to extensive genetic manipulation. And the fact that you look like a nineteen year old when you're definitely older than that, given by the way you carry yourself and how you handled the mission lends further credence to that'_

I wasn't going to reveal the entire thing to her. Right now she's TIM's little lapdog. Maybe when she drops the blinkers, then...

"Noted. And it works both ways" she replied, her voice holding a taunt in it.

 _'Noted'_ I decided to echo her as I hang up the apron and follow her to the conference room.

-Δ-

 _"Excellent work on Torfan you two. Were it not for your intervention, the Alliance would have suffered significant casualties both in space and on the ground. Turning their own air defences against them was inspired"_ came TIM's voice over the comm. speakers as he resolved into a three dimensional holographic image.

" **JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE OFFICE, SIR** " I replied to his praise. I wanted him to think that I was just another loyal Cerberus attack dog, while ideas, plans and schemes ran around in my head. He gave a mildly amused look at that and then turned to Miranda.

 _"Miranda, you are now Agent Fenris's handler for the foreseeable future. The Intrepid is now under your command and will serve as a mobile base of operations for the two of you"_ he said as he lit up a new cig. Gah...the damn things make me want to hack up my non-existent lungs.

"Yes sir" she said in reply. I had tilted my head in thought as the two began to discuss the SOPs, funding and other measures to ensure OPSEC and PERSEC for all parties involved. I had to admit the idea of making the boat a bonafide merchantman would sell our cover better. Especially as the _Intrepid_ was already listed under a shell corporation managed by Cerberus, which according to TIM was turning them a tidy profit. While this was going on, I was running through the dossiers of all the people onboard the boat.

" _Something on your mind Agent Fenris?"_ TIM asked me, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh sorry, just going through everyone's dossiers here onboard the _Intrepid_ " I say in reply. At an impatient gesture on TIM's part I shrug "Just an idea, I want to discuss with the troops and Miranda here before I present it to you"

"What is your idea?" Miranda asked, her voice a little condescending. I guess she was still a little sore on my hacking.

I look between the two and see they wanted to hear what I had to say. With a sigh, I decide to go ahead.

"Well, everyone on board is atleast a graduate in some form of hard science. I mean, even our newest member, Private Tomlinson is a graduate in structural engineering. I think it's a waste of manpower if we don't utilise that knowledge"

 _"I'm listening"_ he said as he took a deep drag of his cigarette, his bland tone masking what his eyes were giving away.

"I would recommend that we operate as a special operations _and_ special projects wing. We can work on researching, developing and field-testing weapons, equipment, tactics and any other projects which would enhance our operatives' survivability and increase their lethality" I said, throwing in a careless shrug.

I then looked between Miranda, who had a sceptical frown on her face, and TIM, who hadn't taken a puff of his cigarette since I began.

 _"Miranda, double-check all the dossiers. If what Fenris is saying is right, we might have not utilised all our resources properly"_ he ordered, cutting the call on getting an acknowledgement from Miranda.

 _'Wheels within wheels'_ I think to myself as Miranda headed off to her cabin to double-check all the dossiers.

-Δ-

It had been nine months since that fateful conversation with the Illusive Man, and Miranda couldn't help feeling a measure of pride in her team and herself.

Their cell, call sign 'Warwolf' on Fenris's insistence, had begun reaping major dividends. They had begun with a simple project, designing a viable replacement for the M-35 Mako, with something a little more reliable than the M-44 Hammerhead.

Enter Project: Tempest. In simple words, they had taken the Mako, stripped it down to its bare essentials, and then on its framework built a heavy gunship. For propulsion, they took the engine specs of the Hammerhead, shook their heads in disgust and went about looking at various commercially available heavy transporter engines and hovercraft system. Miranda hadn't realised how much of R&D was toiling over the design of the system and keeping it within a realistic range.

Finally, they settled on making two versions of the Tempest. A hovercraft variant designated Tempest-G, which could carry a pilot, a gunner and a navigator, propelled by a pair of heavy lift turbines, set on a swivelling mount, allowing it a greater degree of manoeuvrability than the Mako or the Hammerhead. It was armed with a primary armament in the form of a tri-barrelled auto cannon system based off of the original Mako's armament, with the heat generated by one barrel firing being converted into the electric charge required to fire the next round by using the heat sink to charge it up. This allowed the weapon to fire at the rate of 360 rpm. Its secondary weapon systems were in the form of a miniaturised GARDIAN system, installed as an anti-aircraft measure, with two rotary machine guns set up on the bottom bow of the boat-shaped vehicle as an anti-infantry measure, and two Cains set along the sides of the vehicle and behind its primary armament as indirect-firing weapons. It used a miniaturised He-3 fusion reactor to power all its systems, with an improved, cycling shielding which enhanced protection while reducing the strain on the system while recharging. It could carry a dismount squad of 6 infantry in a small, pressurised compartment, separate from the crew.

The second variant, the gunship variant was something else. Basically, the whole thing was a flying tank. The design was a fusion of the airframe of the Mantis, with the armour of a Mako, and the troop carrying capability of the Kodiak. In place of the earlier engines were thrust-vectoring repulsors, which were heavily armoured and due to a reduction in size, were smaller. A tandem seating cockpit was built, with the pilot above the co-pilot. The Tempest-A as it was called had all the armament of the Tempest-G and then all the boys surrounding Miranda agreed that it wasn't _lethal_ enough. Replacing the two Cains, they put in pods of individually targeting, active-LPIR guided micro-missiles, each with a HEAT warhead of a yield of 300 kilograms of TNT. And they set up the Cain and the tri-barrel configured turret in a setup under the nose, miniaturising the primary armament while maintaining lethality by increasing the power capacity of the coils in the gun. It also had a FLIR/TV based nose mounted targeting system for visual guidance.

Both versions weapon systems were collapsible along the lines of modern infantry weapons, making them easy to deploy from orbit.

Both platforms were now being stress tested by the bunch of overgrown children Miranda was babysitting, which was the only way she could describe the 62 grown men, who were prancing around the hold in excitement.

As Fenris put it succinctly "Sometimes, you need to learn to run before you can walk"

"This is the _Intrepid,_ standing by for launch test of Tempests' A and G" came the voice of the captain of the _Intrepid,_ Captain Jason Miles, after we entered orbit of a small desert planet in the Artemis Tau Cluster.

"Aye, aye Captain. All non-essential personnel are exiting the cargo hold. Commence depressurisation of the hold in 2 mikes" replied Senior Operative Arun Sharma as the entire team, barring the crews of the two crafts secured the hold for depressurisation and exited the hold.

The team headed to the operations centre where they all took position behind the various workstations, giving read outs on both the crafts. Miranda and Fenris both stood behind and to a side of the team as they began observing the data filtering in from both the crafts and their crew.

" _Tempest-1, engines engaged"_ came the voice of the pilot of the Tempest-A.

" _Tempest-2, engines engaged"_ said the voice of the pilot of the Tempest-G

" _Tempests, standby for depressurisation. Depressurisation in 3, 2, 1...now. Hold depressurised. Aft doors are open. Commence test"_ came the voice of Captain Miles. Miranda watched from the cameras as both the crafts taxied towards the doors and one by one, launched themselves out of the _Intrepid_.

" _This is Tempest-1-1. I am entering Edolus's atmosphere. All systems operating under nominal parameters"_ came Tempest-1's pilot's voice.

" _Tempest-2-1, here. All systems within operational parameters_ " came the voice of Tempest-2's navigator.

"Copy that Tempests. Make your way to the surface and begin tests as per plan" Miranda ordered them.

 _"Tempest-1-1 copies"_

 _"Tempest-2-1, acknowledged"_

Now began the tiresome part of the whole exercise, the wait. Miranda didn't handle waiting well, especially if she were not in control of the project.

And in all honesty, she wasn't. It was Fenris who had looked at the idea of the Hammerhead and immediately got the entire crew onboard the idea of building the Tempest.

All Miranda did was double-check all the calculations and made sure they didn't accidently 'hole' the hold.

 _If this is what motherhood would be like, I think I might just give it a miss in the baulk,_ thought Miranda as she kept an eye on the data compiling before her.

 _"Warwolf Lead, Tempest-1-1. Am in Edolus atmosphere and currently approaching waypoint 1. All systems are green"_ came the report of Tempest-1 as it entered its operational altitude of 120000 meters.

"Acknowledged Tempest-1. Tempest-2, status?" Miranda ordered as she switched her attention onto the data streaming in from Tempest-2. Only a faint crackle was coming in from the speakers.

"Tempest-2, status?" still only a faint crackle was coming. Miranda was now getting worried about them.

 **"TEMPEST-1, DO YOU HAVE A VISUAL ON TEMPEST-2?"** came Fenris's voice over the comms.

 _"Hold on. I have a lock on their signal. ETA 30 sierras"_ came the reply. They watched the live feed of the gun camera as it locked onto the erratic signal of Tempest-2. It soon resolved into an image of a giant, grey-brown _worm_ chasing after Tempest-2, who's pilot was driving in a random pattern to avoid the worm's lunges and what looked like _spit?_ Miranda had just begun to compute the threat when Fenris began rapping out orders.

 **"TEMPEST-1, PERFORM CAS ON THAT THRESHER MAW. GET TEMPEST-2 OUT OF THERE ASAP! UNDERSTOOD?!"**

 _"Copy Warwolf. Engaging with Cain"_ came the reply as the gun mounted camera showed a positive lock on the Maw. A quarter-second later, the creature vanished in a cloud of fire and smoke. It cleared to show that the Maw, though wounded, had survived.

 _"Missiles away"_ a veritable storm of missiles impacted the prehistoric creature, effectively diverting its attention away from Tempest-2, who immediately seized the opportunity to hightail it out of the combat zone.

 **"TEMPEST-1, DO NOT LET UP. THE MAW _WILL_ ATTACK TEMPEST-2. HIT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!"** Fenris ordered, to which Tempest-1 replied by opening fire with its rotary auto-cannon, scoring direct hits on the monster. As it screamed in defiance and tried to escape, Tempest-1 hit it in the head with a blast from the GARDIAN array on board it for anti-fighter purpose, killing it instantly.

"Well...that went well" came the comical understatement from someone in the room. Miranda rubbed the bridge of her nose as she contemplated that statement.

-Δ-

NEXT UP - STRENGTHENING OF A PARTNERSHIP


End file.
